Boston found themselves down by as much as 22 points early in the minutes of the third quarter, but made a valiant effort to get back into this very tough Game One match-up against the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Thanks to great play by Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and yes, Brian Scalabrine, the Celtics got to within four points of the Magic, but lost 95-90.

Paul Pierce took a long time to get going in this game, but finished strong with 23 points. Glen Davis had 12 and Rajon Rondo had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Rondo brought the speed that the Celtics needed to get back into it. Ray Allen had a rough game shooting, and even with so many good looks at the basket, the ball just did not want to go in. This case was especially seen in the final minute when he missed a three pointer that would have put the C’s down by one. He finished nine points.

Surprises from the Celtics came from some of their role players. Kendrick Perkins faired well against Dwight Howard with a few blocks of his own as well as grabbing 16 rebounds. Brian Scalabrine played exceptionally well off the bench with 10 points and four rebounds. Eddie House hit some clutch three pointers and Stephon Marbury put on quite the show early on in the game. Why Marbury was on the bench later in the game is beyond me despite his strong performance early.

Orlando moved the ball well with sharp passing. Rashard Lewis lead the scoring with 18 followed by Michael Pietrus off the bench with 17. Hedo Turkoglu had 15 and J.J. Redick added 12. Dwight Howard was the same old story, with a typical game of 16 points and 22 rebounds.

The best thing that one can say about this game is that the Celtics will not have the Magic walk all over them. If they can play the rest of this series like they did in the second half, in which they outscored the Magic and played great defense then there will be no problems. The bench seems to have shaken off all the cobwebs with the game seven victory against Chicago and is ready to be an asset to the starts. Also, the Celtics lost Game One to Chicago in the first round and went on to finish them off. This one is far from decided. Game Two is Wednesday night.

From the second quarter through most of the third, the Celtics played about as badly as a professional team can play. It was so embarassing to watch, that I actually found myself laughing at their utter ineptitude at passing, shooting, ball handling and defense. Who the hell were those guys out there? Marbury was the only bright spot in that sequence, and as Geoff said, was inexplicably absent the rest of the game.

Somehow, they discovered how to play defense again in the fourth quarter, and actually had a chance to win that game. I hope the lesson wasn’t lost – you can beat these guys, but it’ll take a four quarter effort. And Allen, Rondo, and Perkins are going to have to score some points.

A final note or two: the ball handling by Pierce is getting worse and worse. He offsets it by making great shots, but every time he gets the ball I wince when he puts it on the floor. Chicago showed everbody how easy it is to steal from him, and Orlando didn’t miss the films. And since when did Rondo totally forget how to score from anywhere other than the foul line (let’s not even mention that incredible air ball from the free throw line, okay)? Some of his pass attempts late in the game were also laughable. Maybe he’s been reading too many of the press clippings from those early Chicago games.

[...] about themselves in the Celtics series. They learned how to completely blow a game and still win (Game 1), how to get blown out and blow someone out (Games 2 and 3), how to completely blow a game and lose [...]